Veterans Affairs committee  There is one area I think that should be looked at right now in terms of what an ombudsman could do. I think your committee was told last week that there is an ombudsman for long-term care in Ste. Anne's Hospital. That would be a good starting point, and we've been actually advoc

Veterans Affairs committee  The year of the Woods commission was 1961, and it's been—

Veterans Affairs committee  Actually, in 1966 there was a minority report from the Woods study. It's interesting that some of the same concepts that were discussed in 1966 are coming back again this time around. I think we all have to collectively deal with these issues and see what we're comfortable with.

Veterans Affairs committee  It was more lawyers for BPA, the Bureau of Pensions Advocates, who actually act as advocates or representatives. They just hired six lawyers in various districts across the country. Just to show you that we collectively keep informed of business processes, we do some of our repr

Veterans Affairs committee  It's quite true that there is a backlog throughout the system. Having said that, it is an evidence-based system, and if there are people who might not be happy with whether or not they got a disability pension or a disability award, there might be some individuals out there who m

Veterans Affairs committee  I think the issue on this one is the eligibility matrix that is out there, not only for those widows but for anybody who wants to access VIP. The eligibility matrix is so complex that even service providers have a hard time understanding how one becomes eligible for VIP. VIP wa

Veterans Affairs committee  It's simplification of the accessibility, enlargement of some of the parameters, but keeping the fundamental principle that what you're trying to do is to keep an aging, frail person in their residence, whatever that may be.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would like to add that we've evolved and that we have reached consensus with a new model, but that was our original draft. This is not the consensus that we reached today, which would still be at the draft level, as far as the government is concerned, until they approve it.

Veterans Affairs committee  We'll have to seek some guidance....

Veterans Affairs committee  The problem also depends on what model of ombudsman is eventually approved. If it is a legislated mandate, you might want to do the same thing for the veterans bill of rights, so you might have to use slightly different language if you want to embed the veterans bill of rights in

Veterans Affairs committee  It is unfortunate that you hold this opinion, because I think we told you what a statement of veterans' rights should be. We even gave you a draft of it. We also said that things were evolving, that we could not give you any other drafts until we have completed our consultation

Veterans Affairs committee  I am referring to our presentation, Mr. Perron.

Finance committee  Could I answer that?

Finance committee  We don't have an estimate of the cost, but the reality is that in the year 2040, one in four of your people who are going to be buying goods will be seniors. Surely you have to preserve a way to allow them to compete in Canadian society and purchase these goods, and this is proba

Veterans Affairs committee  Generally, the departmental decisions are favourable at about a 60% to 75% rate. If we look at what VRAB does, I would say, and this is off the top of my head, that at the first level of appeal they will probably vary favourably 50% of the decisions and at the second level of app